tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34188855646568573182016-12-03T06:24:34.607+01:00Probably MadridObserving the mad in MadridKeef Williamsonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger318125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-86807721697261347652014-06-04T08:54:00.001+02:002014-06-04T08:54:06.288+02:00Paella Time!You can't live in Spain, run a cooking website, and not have a recipe for Paella. So here's mine. I was a bit worried about doing this because of the authenticity issue - Valencian Paella Purists would slaughter me for this. But hey, I'll put my neck on the line and say this is a pretty authentic Madrid Paella Mixta, such as you would get in most cafés/restaurants (and actually, better than many Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-64489909397269744622014-05-18T16:34:00.001+02:002014-05-18T16:34:03.368+02:00KeefCooks has landed!Finally, finally, after almost a year since I had the original idea, I've managed to build and launch my cooking website, KeefCooks. I'm furiously working away at adding recipes to it, but there's a fair bit there already, so please take a look:
Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-49445943701324918702014-03-10T19:06:00.000+01:002014-03-10T19:06:45.990+01:00The Juiciest Hamburger EverSometimes, you just need to eat something that drizzles juice down your chin and all the way down into your boots. Don't you? A big, fat, juicy hamburger. But what that 'juice' really is, is fat. Fat is flavour!
I was recently researching what it is that makes for a truly juicy hamburger, and the answer is: the F-word. Somebody even suggested you should have a fat-to-meat ratio of 40%. That Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-18197446468779216932013-10-06T00:24:00.001+02:002013-10-06T00:24:30.470+02:00Melton Mowbray-style Pork Pie 2.0Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-61871432492219196872013-08-19T18:36:00.001+02:002013-08-19T18:36:25.408+02:00Wappnin'?My few remaining loyal followers may have been wondering if I'd expired suddenly, based on the paucity of posts recently. Well, no, I Ate'n't Dead. But I have been very busy with new stuff, and this blog has definitely suffered because of that.
You might have noticed that my last few posts have all been food/cooking-related. About a month ago, I decided to go the whole hog and build me a cookingKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-67463972128810576032013-05-20T18:46:00.001+02:002013-05-20T19:05:00.968+02:00Sourdough & CrumpetsI've never (knowingly) eaten sourdough bread before, but it keeps popping up on cooking programmes and in recipes and everyone seems to be unanimous that it is the BEST bread ever. It seems a bit fiddly to make - about three times fiddlier than normal bread - but I'm okay with that.
The first thing you need to make sourdough is a starter culture. It's just bread flour and water, but yeast from Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-23443122019371646712013-03-31T20:19:00.001+02:002013-03-31T20:56:39.343+02:00Now You've Got Your New Blowtorch, What Will You Do With It?
I try to limit the amount of kitchen gadgets I have, on the basis that it's hard to find space to store them, and worries about how useful they will be. In the case of the blowtorch, it was like trying to decide whether or not to buy an iPad. However, the blowtorch is considerably cheaper (about €45 with a big can of lighter fluid), therefore the risk of it sitting unused and unloved on a shelfKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-7242412739952572252013-01-11T14:53:00.001+01:002013-01-11T14:53:38.907+01:00A Short Treatise on PiesThis is a piece I wrote late last year, but never posted. I was reminded of it yesterday when I read an article in the Guardian entitled 'How to Make the Perfect Steak and Ale Pie'. This article is part of a series by the normally-admirable Felicity Cloake; what she does is take a bunch of recipes from well-known cooking folks, makes them all and then figures out which is the best (and it's Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-57051896675179193252012-11-03T17:06:00.002+01:002012-11-04T17:54:43.739+01:00Stiff PeaksWell, slightly runny peaks, actually. But this is my first attempt at beating the hell out of egg whites until they give in and miraculously turn themselves into meringue.
I'm reckoned by some to be a fairly decent cook, and I wouldn't disagree with them. But where I fall down is in desserts. Okay, I can make an apple pie or crumble with my eyes shut, but when it comes to things like custard, Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-76352394208944811102012-07-19T00:41:00.000+02:002012-07-19T10:17:19.863+02:00New ToyEver since Apple released the first iPad, I've wanted one. But they were expensive, and I really had no idea what I would do with it if I did go crazy and splash out a ton of money. So I put the lust into a dark recess of my mind, and forgot about it.
However, a couple of things coincided a few months ago that convinced me I needed an iPad. The first was doing the design for a website whose Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-10938084442072934062012-06-26T18:00:00.003+02:002012-06-26T18:07:11.135+02:00Tybalt & Theo: Kindle EditionMost of my blog readers are probably aware that I occasionally write novels that no agent or publisher has yet had the foresight or cojones to take on. Which doesn't mean the book is no good, of course, it just means it's not right for that particular agent/publisher/whatever. Three or four years ago, I spent an awful lot of time on a website for aspiring writers called authonomy.com. It's owned Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-29515121234984442952012-06-05T22:34:00.001+02:002012-06-05T22:34:11.032+02:00TechnobobbleAs someone who works with computer technology every single day, designing marvellous websites (like English Warehouse, for example) AND doing the invisible programming that makes them work, I sometimes feel like a bit of a Luddite because I rarely feel the urge to jump onto whatever the latest bandwagon is. Spotify? Heard of it, but never joined. Instagram? I can do that stuff with Photoshop if IKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-30257798125501003632012-05-13T20:52:00.002+02:002012-05-13T20:52:50.518+02:00LondonI've never actually lived in London, although I did have a couple of years in Surrey, which is only a short train ride away. As a student, I would whizz down to the Metropolis from Yorkshire for a day, and visit places like the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery, the Hayward Gallery, the Design Centre and so on. But it was never a place where I felt I wanted to live. It was dirty, unfriendly, Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-801745449362683292012-04-10T19:44:00.000+02:002012-04-10T19:44:35.055+02:00Software MagicI got me a new phone last week (huzzah!), a Samsung Galaxy S something +. It looks and works a bit like an iPhone, and there are several court cases going on around the world where Apple is claiming the same thing. Anyway, the new phone is handsome, works very well and I'm liking it a lot.
When I first switched it on, it ran through a bunch of setup things, and when I got to the keyboard bit, itKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-89115552915131141612012-02-18T22:12:00.001+01:002012-02-18T22:20:08.570+01:00Treasure From EnglandI were brung up in Yorkshire, where we not only talk the most proper Inglish, we also invented t'world's best cuisine. Tha' knows, Yorkshire puddin, pease puddin, black puddin too, I shunt wonder, and o' course, t'world's best vegetable: mushy peas.
I've searched high and low for the makings of mushy peas (dried marrowfat peas, that's all) here in Madrid, but to no avail. You can get ready-made Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-36768015628621540372012-01-16T20:19:00.002+01:002012-01-16T20:46:14.887+01:00Searching For UmamiNo, not 'your mammy', 'oomaaaahmy'.
Umami is alleged to be the fifth taste, after salt, sour, sweet and bitter, and it's a Japanese word that is variously translated as 'savoury' or 'deliciousness'. Before we go any further, I should explain that 'taste' is what we can detect with our tongues. This is augmented by many thousands of aromas that our noses can experience. It's all a bit complicatedKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-29936202840295183412012-01-09T23:09:00.000+01:002012-01-09T23:09:08.752+01:00The BurgerHere it is then. The bottom part is a BLT - bacon, lettuce and tomato sitting on a blob of mayonnaise and topped with melted cheese. The top part is Dijon mustard, the burger patty, sliced gherkins, tomato ketchup and more melted cheese.
Possibly a bit over the top.Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-86792475628893757962012-01-08T18:54:00.000+01:002012-01-09T18:43:27.460+01:00Great BunsThere are few things on this earth that can beat a really good beefburger. Sadly, like pies, some of the things that get passed off as 'good' burgers are anything but. I remember to this day the very first 'hamburger' I ever had. It was at a Wimpy in Doncaster (MacDonald's and their ilk were still a few years away from hitting UK shores, and burgers did not exist in Brit 'cuisine'), and it was Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-62846181233330592652011-12-23T21:36:00.000+01:002011-12-23T21:36:01.148+01:00Christmas AlreadyI'm really sorry for my abysmal posting record this month - I have 3 or 4 half-written posts that only need (usually) a photo or a few more words to finish them off.
Ho hum. And now Christmas is upon us. I'm off to London first thing tomorrow, but I promise when I get back there'll be lots more posting. Can't wait, can ya?
I wish youse all a fab Christmas and a splendid 2012, despite what crap Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-54004915682196125702011-11-07T18:08:00.001+01:002011-11-07T18:08:24.944+01:00Elephants. NotI love Tiger, I really really do. They sell silly stuff, hobby stuff, party stuff and herbs and spices. Most items cost 1 or 2 Euros. I doubt they have anything over €10. But it's nothing like a £1 shop in the UK - shopping in Tiger doesn't make you feel like a loser. If you don't have one near you - go to their website and complain like a complainy thing. Because then you'll be able to get some Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-4491306838461634442011-10-19T12:22:00.000+02:002011-10-19T21:06:14.511+02:00Trains, Planes, Automobiles, Car Ferries and a Jelly TotWe've known for about six months that one of the clan would be celebrating his 50th birthday in the Netherlands in mid-October. But did anybody book any flights when they were cheap? Nooooo, of course not. So we ended up organising the most bizarrely impractical itinerary for the weekend just gone.
We had basically given up on the idea of the Holland trip because we had no money and the fares Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-50152929027814364922011-10-10T22:05:00.001+02:002011-10-10T22:05:12.370+02:00Smoking No MoreI hesitate to say, out loud and in public 'I quit', because I will then look like a weak and feeble arse when next I pick up a cigarette, set fire to it, and suck its evil contents down into the fetid depths of what remains of my lungs.
So what I will say is, it's been 4-5 days since I last smoked a cigarette. And you know what? Quitting isn't killing me. Sure, I get the little craving monster, Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-40672511658929034972011-09-14T18:37:00.000+02:002011-09-14T18:37:37.779+02:00An Astonishingly Good ReadI rarely post on here about books I'm reading / have read / have hurled into the street below because the author just can't effing write. But I really have to share a little rave-ette with you, having just finished reading David Mitchell's extraordinary 2004 novel, Cloud Atlas for the second time. Why it took me 7 years to come across this book, I'll never know. I was talking to a writer-friend aKeef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-33168889296350669762011-08-07T16:26:00.001+02:002011-08-07T17:26:48.069+02:00Them Molecules AgainI actually made a Molecular Gastronomy recipe today that I was quite proud of. It's Agar Agar Tomato Soup Spaghetti, invented by Ferran Adría of El Bulli.
There are two essential bits of kit needed for this recipe - a big chunky syringe, and lengths of plastic tubing. The tubing has to fit very tightly over the nozzle of the syringe, otherwise all your efforts are doomed to failure. After quite Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3418885564656857318.post-14982568880636306142011-07-21T09:52:00.001+02:002011-07-21T10:37:19.891+02:00English Airport Procedures - Compare and ContrastI've been to England twice in the last two months, the first time flying into & out of Stansted, and the second, Gatwick.
Up till now, if I've had to go to London, Stansted has been my airport of choice. Luton is too much like a municipal bus station, while Heathrow and Gatwick are a national disgrace (well, two national disgraces, or six if you count each terminal separately). But for the most Keef Williamsonhttps://plus.google.com/107847268970529900812noreply@blogger.com1